Hilton: Revenue from Mobile Apps Soaring 200 Percent Monthly
The surge that Hilton Worldwide has seen this year in its iPhone application downloads and mobile room bookings surprises even Chuck Sullivan, the company's senior vice president of global online services.
"It's interesting how quickly consumers have adopted the use of mobile phones to make and change hotel reservations," Sullivan told USA Today reporter Barbara De Lollis recently during a phone interview.
Hilton in November 2009 launched the first of its chain-specific apps, and last month launched the seventh - and final - app for its luxury Waldorf-Astoria brand. Just three months later, Sullivan had told De Lollis that Hilton's iPhone apps had been downloaded 126,000 times. So today?
As of August, travelers have downloaded Hilton-brand apps 340,000 times, he says.
Furthermore, revenue generated from room bookings across Hilton's brands via the mobile apps soared 200% in May vs. May 2009, and has continued at that pace through August on a year-over-year basis, he says.